Enchantee?

It is an incontestable fact that life in Paris is wonderful. Walking down the streets, I'm tempted to take pictures of every building I see (then realize that would be a bit excessive). I stumble across monuments on my way to class or to hot cocoa. Aside: hot cocoa is amazing here. When I have a few free hours after class, I head over to the Louvre to check out the Sully wing (for free). Everyday, there are new people to meet, new places to go, new things to see. For all intents and purposes, this city + me = love.

So it was surprising when my lovely, idyllic Parisian life became slightly terrifying on an excursion to St. Denis today. St. Denis is north of the city, and, if wikipedia is to be trusted, has one of the most "infamous crime rates in the country." My professor failed to mention that before he said "meet at the st. denis basilica in an hour." So there we were, getting some sandwiches and crepes in this very public, very sunny, very normal plaza, when all of a sudden there was a RUCUS. And 6 guys were going after this girls' purse fifteen feet away. And then they got it, and ran! Then a vigiliante hero CHASED them, got the purse back, but then they started kicking him! In the end, the purse was recovered, the delinquent banlieusards fled, and the heroic man had a large gash across his forehead and mad karma points. I don't really know what to make of the whole debacle, but it was certainly eye-opening, and taught me to wikipedia search northern parisian suburbs before going there on class fieldtrips.

Afterwards, in an attempt to put our minds at ease, a group of us went to Angelina's in the 1st. Angelina's has some of the best hot chocolate in the city (clarification: it is basically pure, melted, chocolate), and the 1st is probably the safest place you'll ever be. After, we ventured over to St. Germaine-de-Pres, which was lovely, and overall had a very safe, serene, and calming afternoon.

So overall, Paris has been delightful, and up to today, sublime. The crazyness of St. Denis just knocked it down a level to being semi-real again.